Nanashi sighed as the two left the room. "Man I feel like I messed up some way." He said as he began to clean up the room. "Maybe I should've just talked to them normally."

Mika shugged as the two finished cleaning. "Yeah, your not very good at that aren't you Senpai?"

"Oi, no need to make me feel worse." He complained as the two began to leave the school. "By the way, did you finish that one thing I asked for?"

Mika nodded. "Yep, my buddy in Katsuda got in contact with their club president. Heres their phone number." He said handing him a piece of paper. "What are you planning anyways?" She asked.

"You'll see." He said with a chuckle. "Well, I'll cya tomorrow in club." He said as they reached the spot they split up at. Nanashi was honestly not feeling right about how their first practice session ended but it was fine at the end of the day, after all everyone messes up and he was sure he could make it up to them ... maybe.

///

April 27th

Nanashi stood at the front gate of school early in the morning waiting for his clubmates. "I really should just get their phone numbers." He said with a sigh.

Sousuke walked with slightly more energy than yesterday. Unlike yesterday, he actually had his coffee this morning so he wasn't nearly as groggy. He still dragged his feet a bit as he walked though. But it wasn't school he was dreading, it was Gunpla Club. He really wasn't in the mood to hear Nanashi's preaching again, but also knew that he couldn't get his pay if he didn't stick it out. It also didn't help that thoughts of this being his last opportunity to battle in the Under-19 nagged at the back of his head.

"And... there he is again." Sousuke muttered when he spotted Nanashi once again waiting at the entrance of the school. When Sousuke got close, he said nothing and instead pulled out his phone and handed it to Nanashi after pulling up his number, "Just take my number. This early morning waiting of yours is just sad." he was about to head into the school but stopped himself, "I... I need you guys to come with me somewhere after Club today. It's... kind of important." he spoke with hesitation, it was pretty clear that whatever he had in mind wasn't something he wasn't excited to do, but that he also had no other choice.

Nanashi didn't have time to respond before Sousuke said what he needeed to say and took off. 'I wonder what he where he needs to bring us?' He thought as he continued to wait until Natsu appeared, giving the younger man a nod when he appeared, "Nah, we don't have club. However we DO have club after school today and I don't have your number so I couldn't text you it." He said to Natsu with a smile before his mood changed a bit. "By the way, Sousuke said that he needed us to come with him somewhere today, apparently it's important." He informed him before leaving to the club room. He had some time before class started, might as well work on the Origin a bit.

After school.

"Yes ... yes ... thank you! I'm excited to see you all there ... We'll make sure to give you hell." Nanashi said over the phone before hanging up, scribbling something down into his notebook. "The others are going to love this." He said after hanging up the phone. "Hopefully a match and ... pay will make Sousuke alittle less mad at me." He said remembering the terms of his membership

The school day was dull, as usual. Sousuke sat through almost all his classes on auto-pilot. When the day was finally over he left his last class and headed for the Club room. As he walked he rested a hand on the Gunpla case clipped to his belt. In all honesty he owed Nanashi an apology for exploding yesterday. But apologies were never something Sousuke was good at. Even that paled in comparison to his dread of what awaited after club was over. Not for any particular reason, he just didn't want to become the Club's resident sob story in need of others' pity.

"Well..." muttered Sousuke as he reached the door to the club, "...time for Day 2." and then he entered.

Nanashi sighed at Natsu’s question, “Honestly I’m not 100% Sure what I wanted to explain either. But I guess in the most general way of speaking, I wanted you guys to understand your Gunplas more. Pure talent can only bring you so far, it's only when you understand and your machine inside out can you take its ability to the fullest.” He said as he wrote down more into his notebook. “How far a joint can move, how to repair it when damaged, knowing which parts are easier to fix then others and which are essentially for battle. Each Gunpla has their owe qualities and I feel like neither of you know ALL of them.”

"And I feel like you should actually know who your teammates are before you make assumptions about them." Sousuke said, not angry but definitely in a quick and snappy tone. He left it at that, though, having no desire for a repeat of yesterday.

Cool it, Sousuke. He'll understand after you introduce them. He'd better, anyway.

Sousuke pulled back a chair and sat in it. He didn't stop there, he leaned the chair back until it was reclined against the wall. Then he propped his feet up on a nearby table and pulled his hat down so that it partially covered his face. It almost looked like he was about to take a nap. Maybe he would have, if allowed to.

"Yeah, I wanted us to battle some simulator Gunpla in order to train as a unit but I wanted to talk about 2 things before that." He said clearing his throat and straightened his back, pretending to look professional. "Subject one. Sousuke has requested that we accompany him today after club. Natsu I want to say it's mandatory but honestly that's up to you. But I'm going." He said as he held up a notebook. "Second, and bigger news, I scored us an invite to a practice tournament between us and the 3 other schools in the region who participate in the U-19 tournament." He said holding up a notebook with three names on it.

Sousuke listened, but offered no response at first. Another practice battle, eh? Well he could only charge for real battles against other teams. Practice battles were just that, practice and nothing more. No payout today either, it seemed. But the mention of a practice tournament did manage to get Sousuke's attention. Now that he could charge for. But wait... which schools? Sousuke suddenly shot from his seat and took a closer look at the notebook.

"...Thought so." he said after spotting the familiar name of his previous school. Hokuten Academy, home to a rather dedicated Gunpla Battle Club called Team Chasers. It wasn't the only team Sousuke had previously been a part of, but right now it was the only one participating in the Practice Tourney. In fact there was probably a good chance they'd see his other former teams in the Under-19 itself. Sousuke was... not exactly looking forward to that, "Hokuten Academy: Team Chasers. Not a team you wanna trifle with. They favor Speed Builds, so don't bother trying to run away or keep them at a distance, it won't work." His description of the team was far too specific to be anything other than personal experience as a former member of said Team. It was one of the reasons the Crossbone Joker could be as fast as it was.

"Hokuten last year beat their local tournament and made it to regionals. So there's a good chance we'll be fighting a difficult fight against Team Chaser." Nanashi said as he looked to Natsu, "Nobuya is also a worrying enemy. Last year they didn't participate but the years before they had focused on high artillery low speed tactics, overwhelming people with sheer firepower. Although there strategy can be completely different this year." He said rubbing his chin. "Honestly I'm kinda worried about how there's no info on them."

Sousuke rubbed his temples. Regionals, that's right. He was on the team the year it made Regional. He had to transfer before he could see it through though and from what he heard the team got defeated a couple of rounds after Sousuke transferred. He doubted they would hold that against him, though, as the transfer was due to circumstances beyond Sousuke's control. Well, maybe he'd hold a grudge. Keiichiro Asaka was never Sousuke's biggest fan, so if anyone would still be pissed about what happened with Regionals, it'd be him. Sousuke never understood Keiichiro's apparent beef with him. He always claimed that the Crossbone Joker clashed with Team Chasers' style, or something to that effect. Keiichiro did aspire to become a Gunpla Battle Referee so maybe the Joker's pirate aesthetic was what he referred to?

As for the other members, well, Sakuya was always a pretty chill guy. And Tsukasa? Well, who knows what that girl was thinking, but at least she didn't have a stick up her ass like Keiichiro, "Chaser's captain is Keiichiro Asaka. He's in charge of hall monitor duties at Hokuten and last I heard he wanted to become a Gunpla Battle referee. He's stubborn and has a massive stick up his ass, but he's pretty tough for a pain-in-the-ass. And his partners Sakuya and Tsukasa aren't slouches either."

Nanashi chuckled a bit, “This Keiichiro sounds like a hard ass.” He commented as the he began to input commands into the simulator. “But yeah I'm curious to, how good are these guys?” The simulator started, creating a Grand Canyon looking environment. “Since We're talking about Team Chaser, let's fight some fast units.” He said as he continued typing, a Gundam Kyrios, Victory, and Tallgese appearing.

"If I remember, Keiichiro is their ace," Sousuke said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin, "Sakuya is their chief builder and designer, and Tsukasa is their strategist." Team Chaser had a bit of a reputation for being a well-rounded and well-organized trio of Gunpla Battlers. They also had a thing for Police-themed Gunpla builds, mostly due to Keiichiro's insistence. As the simulation started up, Sousuke placed his personal terminal in its slot to register himself as a player.

"Gunpla Base, set. Please set your Gunpla."

"Kikkawa, Sousuke." he placed the Crossbone Joker on the launch base, "Crossbone Joker... steal the win!" and the gunpla launched into the simulated battlefield.

... or you could just ignore my question. Natsu thought to himself.

He grabbed his Echo Barbatos and retrieve his GP base. The mechanical request came through with its usual pleasant tone. He slid the blocky base into its slot before setting his sleeker Barbatos down. His mind staid itself while thinking on how Sousuke-san had entered the field. It was like watching a real Gundam series. The protagonist would say his or her name, followed by their respective suits before launching deep into space warfare.

For once he had felt like being the center of attention too.

"Saisei deploying. Echo Barbatos, roar and go." The plavasky particles surged through the machine, it made a resonating sound, then flew into the brown canyon. Being there felt so real it was jarring.